A Good Scare
by silkplants
Summary: Alfred finds himself lost in a haunted house, after being left behind by his group. Arthur seems to have a similar problem, though the two of them might be able to face the house together. Last part of my October-long Halloween theme, though it's a bit late...Usuk. Human AU.


Alfred was not scared. No matter what his friends said. They had all come in a group to an Halloween event, hosted at night. It had a variety of games and attractions, and numerous haunted houses and trails to walk through. And Alfred's friends dragged him to everything. Each haunted attraction was worse than the last, and they led to the scariest of them all. This haunted house had a reputation, Alfred's friend Ludwig had been through once and even he refused to go in again. That did not bode well for him. That was their next stop, and they now sat at a picnic table, grabbing something to eat before they went in.

"I mean..do we really have to? Ludwig won't even go in with us, and he hasn't even flinched at anything in the other houses.." Alfred thought that Ludwig might not have been afraid because he'd done this before. But, he somehow had a feeling that his friend just wasn't easily scared. Alfred around the table at his group. "We've been here for hours, anyways, it's getting late anyways…" His friends all turned to him, blinking at him as if he'd said something ridiculous.

"But that's why we have to go in!" One of his friends, a girl nicknamed Chelles, piped up and spoke in her bubbly tone. "I mean, it's supposed to be the best house! We can't just skip it. You'll be fine, Alfred, stick with the group and it'll be okay." she assured, patting his shoulder to try and make him feel a little better. The rest of his group wasn't quite as kind, teasing him for being too afraid to go in. The pressure got him to agree to go along, and he finished his drink before following them to the attraction.

The house loomed over them, eerie, crackly music playing from hidden speakers in the front. There was no light to speak of other than in the first room. The rest of the house was almost completely dark. Alfred rubbed his arms, his walk slowing to a sort of shuffle. He could already see a shadowy figure in the entrance, and he grew more uncomfortable by the moment.

Alfred followed his friends into the house, and they lined up single file, handing the shadowy figure a few dollars each. They walked into the house, passing through curtains which served to darken the attraction further.

Nothing happened right away, which worked everyone into a state of unease. The longer they walked without anything, the more tense everyone became.

The first thing that happened was a bang on the walls as they walked down a narrow hallway, forced to walk one at a time. No one screamed, but everyone jumped, walking a little faster until they found themselves in a small room. There was no visible door, and they looked around the room. It seemed that nothing was inside, and the edge of the last scare wore off.

"So far, I don't see what had Ludwig and everyone else so scared-." Someone started, though they silenced as the whir of a chainsaw cut through their sentence. Some was running towards them down the path they had just come through, and there still didn't seem to be any visible exit. They all scream, and as they shrieked, a panel of the wall popped open, revealing a path. The group ran down.

Then, they came to two paths. One was a dead end, the other led to the next phase of the house. While his friends decided, Alfred looked over his shoulder, still worried about anything that might creep up behind them. However, when he turned around, his friends were gone.

"Guys?!" He called out, eyes going wide as he looked from side to side. No answer. Alfred tried to decide which path to go down, but, he thought he heard something behind him. In his panic, he ran down one of the halls.

Dead end. Which meant they must have gone the other way. He hoped they were waiting for him, but he doubted it. Alfred went back up the hallway and down the other path, now alone and more terrified than ever.

Alfred wandered through more of the haunted house, the workers making sure not to miss an opportunity to scare him. He was alone, after all, and therefore a much easier target. But Alfred was near his nerve's end. He was shaking now, hunched over and rubbing his arms as he shuffled his way through the house.

He kept walking, but after a few rooms he noticed he could hear footsteps. When he stopped, they stopped, but they followed him when he walked.

Alfred turned suddenly, and both he and the person behind him screamed. The stranger fell back, looking up at him. Alfred backed away, meeting his eyes. "You don't…work here." He said at last, and the other shook his head, standing.

"Neither do you…I- well, I'm afraid I'm rather lost." He spoke, brushing back a tuft of yellow hair. "My name is Arthur. Can..can you help me?" He asked, holding his hand out in greeting. Alfred slowly accepted his hand, nodding. "Yeah. but, I gotta warn you, I'm pretty lost too." He gave a small smile, and the stranger- Arthur- nodded in return.

The haunted house still terrified Alfred, but somehow it was easier to get through it with Arthur. Arthur didn't even complain when he held his hand. Though, Alfred supposed it was because Arthur was afraid too. They talked as they walked through, jumping and clinging to each other's arms at times. Alfred even found himself chuckling on occasion, smiling at Arthur as they walked. This was much easier than being alone, Alfred decided. And Arthur was fun, too.

The two of them reached the end of the haunted house, and Alfred found his group of friends. He waved to them, and let go of Arthur's hand, smiling at him. "It was great to meet you! Though, I don't know how helpful I was..Um..have a good night?"

Arthur's small smile faded, and he nodded, stepping back. "Of course. I..you should go to your friends. I'm sure they were worried."

Alfred looked at Arthur a moment, and then looked back at his friends. "Huh. You know what? Never mind. I'll see them later..but I mean, they did leave me behind. So, they won't miss me for a little while longer. And I'd rather hang out with you if that's okay. Let's get something to eat, or play a game- anything that doesn't involve getting scared. Sound fun?"

Arthur nodded, and Alfred took his hand, leading him away from the house and away from Alfred's group.

"Great! So, what do you wanna do first?"


End file.
